Sports in Ecuador

Concerning sports, there is a lot to say about Quito and whole Ecuador. Haske tells us about his experiences in Quito. “Ever since I was a little kid, I have loved watching and participating in sports. Several times per week I used to play soccer with my friends and basically whoever was feeling like joining. Now that I am living here in Ecuador, I found out that Ecuador’s most favorite sport is soccer. The second favorite sport? Soccer, again.

The highest league of Ecuador, the Serie A, holds five different clubs from Quito: Aucas, Deportivo Quito, El Nacional, LDU Quito, and Universidad Católica. These clubs play in 3 different stadiums, of which one is shared by three different clubs, the Estadio Atahualpa. Going to this stadium on a match day could be a long one for the visitors. Often, one of the teams plays at 10 o’clock in the morning and the next game starts at 1.30 pm. This gives ‘us’ the possibility to watch two different games by purchasing only one ticket. These tickets can be purchased on the day of the match. You can just go to the stadium and buy your tickets for that day’s match from the people that are wearing the colorful jackets. Please note that the tickets usually don’t hold a seat number, which means that there is a ‘first come, first serve’ policy in the stadium.

For those who prefer watching sports in a bar, of course there are different possibilities to do so in the big city of Quito. For example, in the Mariscal there is a sports bar called ‘Finn McCool’s’, a nice Irish Pub where they are adjusting their program to any of their clients wishes. Watching the NFL with your American friends or supporting your favorite team in the Champions League, everything is possible there. Of course, this is not the only possibility for the sports enthusiasts. Quito is really big and there are sports bars to be found in almost every area. Furthermore, there are sporting activities in ‘Parque Carolina’ and ‘Parque el Ejido’ every weekend. So if you want to join a group of dancers on Sunday morning, watch a game of ‘Ecuavolley’ or do some exercising yourself; those are the places to be. The options are plenty.”

Feeling like doing some activity? Unfortunately we do not offer football courses but if you want to get active we offer a Mountain Biking Tour and various hiking trips. Check it out!